AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of May 4, 2012
eds. Joan Schmelz, Caroline Simpson & Michele Montgomery
[This week's guest editor is Daryl Haggard. Daryl is a postdoctoral fellow in
the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics
(CIERA) at Northwestern University. She studies AGN and their host galaxies,
accreting compact binaries, and accretion-driven outflows using multi-wavelength
and time domain surveys.]
This week's issues:
1. CSWA Annual Report
2. Girls Like STEM! How can we translate that interest into a career?
3. Another inspiring video of young women in STEM
4. Interesting article about women in academia
5. Why Aren't More Women in Science Fields?
6. Gender-Neutral Acknowledgments
7. 2012 Mentoring Conference at UNM
8. 2012 AAAS Mentor Awards
9. Galactic Unite STEM Scholarship Program for Young Women
10. Job Opportunities
11. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
12. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
13. Access to Past Issues
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1. CSWA Annual Report
From: Joan Schmelz [jschmelz_at_memphis.edu]
CSWA has just completed the 2012 Annual Report of its activities for the AAS.
This document includes summaries of the panel discussion at the Boston AAS
meeting entitled, "Transforming Cultural Norms: Mentoring/Networking Groups for
Women and Minorities" as well as the special session at the Austin AAS Meeting
entitled, "Increasing Diversity in Your Department." It also summarizes our
efforts to improve communications between the committee and the community. These
efforts include STATUS, our semi-annual magazine, as well as our web
site, blog, Facebook page, and Twitter account. The report also summarizes
CSWA's "Recommendations to the NSF Career-Life Initiative" and our new survey of
"Parental Leave and Childcare for Graduate Students."
The 2012 Annual Report, along with older reports going back to 2003, is posted
on our web site:
http://www.aas.org/cswa/annualreports
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2. Girls Like STEM! How can we translate that interest into a career?
From: Julia Kamenetzky via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
[This week's guest blogger is Julia Kamenetzky. Julia Kamenetzky is an NSF
Graduate Research Fellow at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research
focuses on extragalactic submillimeter spectroscopy with Z-Spec and Herschel.]
When discussing the representation of women in STEM fields, it’s important to
ask: are girls even interested in science? Proponents of gender essentialism,
the belief that men and women are fundamentally different, might assume that
women are underrepresented in STEM because they simply aren’t interested. Why
should we push people into careers that don’t interest them? Or perhaps even
worse, why should we push people into careers that they aren’t "good" at?
To read more:
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/
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3. Another inspiring video of young women in STEM
From: Ed Bertschinger via womeninastronomy.blogspot.com
I got this link from AWIS, the Association for Women in Science. Their LinkedIn
page gives a lot of great resources, and they offer many excellent professional
development talks and workshops to members, usually through their many local
chapters. Most important to me, they provide a community of people committed to
advancing women in science, with many practical tips for all.
A link to the video:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/04/24/next-generation-girls-stem
To read more:
http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2012/05/another-inspiring-video-of-young-women.html
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4. Interesting article about women in academia
From: Ferah Munshi [ferahmunshi_at_gmail.com]
[This article is from a blog by Curt Rice at the University of Tromso in Norway.
The additional links were the focus of a recent "Diversity Journal Club" held
monthly in the Astronomy department at the University of Washington. -eds.]
"Why women in science don’t want to work at universities"
http://curt-rice.com/2012/03/19/why-women-in-science-dont-want-to-work-at-universities/
and some background literature on the subject:
"When Scientists Choose Motherhood" (Wiliams & Ceci, 2012, American Scientist, 100, 2):
http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2012/2/when-scientists-choose-motherhood/1
"Women in Physics: A tale of limits" (Ivie & Langer Tesfaye, 2012, Physics Today, 65, 2):
http://www.physicstoday.org/resource/1/phtoad/v65/i2/p47_s1
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5. Why Aren't More Women in Science Fields?
From: Daryl Haggard [dhaggard_at_northwestern.edu]
[An interview with Maria Klawe, President of Harvey Mudd College, who was also
featured in the NY Times article "Giving Women the Access Code" included in the
April 6, 2012 issue of AASWomen. -eds.]
Why aren't more young women pursuing careers in the 'hard sciences,' like
computer science and engineering? That's what Maria Klawe, President of Harvey
Mudd College, has been wondering and researching for much of her career.
To read more and watch the interview:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/video/blog/2012/04/college_president_discusses_wo.html
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6. Gender-Neutral Acknowledgments
From: Anonymous
A paper that a female astronomer reviewed appeared on arxiv with thanks to the
reviewer for "his" comments in the acknowledgment section. Upon notification of
the problem, the journal editor agreed that it should be fixed, adding "The
implication that all anonymous referees are male is especially unfortunate given
that the first author of the paper is also female." This is a reminder that all
of us need to be careful about gender assumptions. Writing gender-neutral
acknowledgments is not difficult and much preferred.
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7. 2012 Mentoring Conference at UNM
From: Nancy Morrison [NMorris_at_UTNet.UToledo.Edu]
The Mentoring Institute at the University of New Mexico is seeking proposals for
its fifth annual Mentoring Conference. The conference will be held in the
Student Union Building, situated on UNM's main campus, from Wednesday, October
24 thru Friday, October 26 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This year's conference
theme is "Facilitating Developmental Relationships for Success" and calls for
proposals that critically and innovatively analyze different types of
developmental relationships and how they contribute to the long-term success and
prosperity of an individual. The conference will allow professionals from a
multitude of disciplines to share valuable insights that contribute to the
future of mentoring.
The keynote speaker for the conference is Professor Belle Rose Ragins, who
teaches, consults, and conducts research on diversity, mentoring and gender
issues. She has written more than 100 papers for presentations at national and
international conferences and for publication in leading academic journals. She
is co-author of Mentoring and Diversity: An International Perspective and
co-editor of two books: The Handbook of Mentoring at Work and Exploring Positive
Relationships at Work.
Proposals may be for papers, posters, or roundtable discussions and will be
refereed.
Abstract proposal deadline: May 15, 2012
Early registration deadline: June 15, 2012
To learn more:
http://mentor.unm.edu/conference/index.html
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8. 2012 AAAS Mentor Awards
From: WIPHYS, May 3, 2012
Apply by July 31
The two categories of the AAAS Mentor Awards, the Lifetime Mentor Award and the
Mentor Award, honor individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership
to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in the science and
engineering PhD workforce.
These groups include: women of all racial or ethnic groups; African American,
Native American, and Hispanic men; and people with disabilities.
For more information and the criteria please visit the website:
http://www.aaas.org/aboutaaas/awards/mentor/
The application PDF can be downloaded and filled out electronically for
increased efficiency and accuracy. Enhanced tables and clarifying language help
to highlight the spirit of the award, PhD completion and institutional change in
underrepresented groups.
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9. Galactic Unite STEM Scholarship Program for Young Women
From: WIPHYS, May 3, 2012
Apply by May 31
Virgin Galactic Future Astronauts Jann Bytheway and Global recording
artist/UNESCO Artist for Peace Ambassador Sarah Brightman have, by generous
donations, created the Galactic Unite STEM Scholarship Program, which will be
managed through a partnership with UNCF, one of the nation’s largest private
providers of minority scholarships. The Bytheway and Brightman STEM Scholarship
Program will help young females in the US pursue STEM education throughout their
four-year college career, providing a much needed boost to the current
participation of females in this area. The first scholarships will be awarded
this fall.
Find more info here:
http://www.virgingalactic.com/news/item/virgin-galactic-virgin-unite-uncf/
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10. Job Opportunities
One Year Faculty Position in Astronomy and Physics at Mount Allison University in Canada:
http://www.mta.ca/hr/employment/empopp_acad.htm#physics_term
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11. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
To submit an item to the AASWOMEN newsletter, including replies to topics, send
email to aaswomen_at_aas.org
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address.
Please remember to replace "_at_" in the e-mail address above.
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12. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
Join AAS Women List by email:
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Be sure to follow the instructions in the confirmation email. (Just reply back
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13. Access to Past Issues
http://www.aas.org/cswa/AASWOMEN.html
Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.